Brendan Barker enters his first year as the assistant swimming coach for the Golden Griffins. He graduated from Canisius in May of 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and accounting information systems and is currently pursuing an MBA in accounting at the College.
Barker competed for the Golden Griffins for four years. In his senior season he was named to the MAAC All-Academic team for the third consecutive year. He was also awarded the “D Force” award, given to the swimmer who dropped the most time in distance freestyle events. He finished his collegiate swimming career with his best times in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:58.08), 1000-yard freestyle (10:43.66), and the 500-yard freestyle (5:14.50). He also competed in the 100 and 200 freestyle and the 50 and 100 backstroke events.
In his junior season, Barker cut twelve seconds off of his 500 freestyle (5:21.11) at the MAAC Championships. Barker was the second fastest on the team in the 1650. He placed second in the 1,000 free against NJIT and took third in the 500 free against St. Bonaventure. He also was named to the MAAC All-Academic team.
During his sophomore year, Barker led the Griffs with a 17:58.08 in the 1650 free at the MAAC Championships. He recorded second-fastest team times in the 500 freestyle and the 1,000 freestyle. Barker earned first place in the 500 free against Grove City and second place against Buffalo. He also earned MAAC All-Academic team honors.
As a freshman, Barker was a member of an 800 freestyle relay team that set a school record at MAAC Championships with time of 7:41.30. He swam a 5:28.92 to finish third in 500 freestyle against Manhattan Nov. 12. He also competed in multiple winning relays over the course of the season.
